Celiac disease (CD), triggered by the ingestion of gluten, occurs in people genetically predisposed to develop the chronic autoimmune condition. During the past few decades, doctors have learned much about how the disease develops, including genetic and other risk factors. However, results from studies on whether people with CD have an increased risk of premature death linked to the…
Like most people, you probably do not enjoy going to the doctor only to be referred to a specialist in a different practice. Unfortunately, fragmented care is often the reality among people suffering from common mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety. Wouldn’t it be nice to have both your behavioral and physical health needs addressed at the same…
Proponents of cannabis generally dismiss the idea that there is a cannabis withdrawal syndrome. One routinely hears statements such as, “I smoked weed every day for 30 years and then just walked away from it without any problems. It’s not addictive.” Some cannabis researchers, on the other hand, describe serious withdrawal symptoms that can include aggression, anger, irritability, anxiety,…
At any given time, more than a third of Americans are on a specific diet, with weight loss as a leading reason. Most are going to be disappointed, because even when successful, lost weight is frequently regained within a few months. While most weight-loss diets can help you lose weight, they may be unsuccessful over the long run for…
Cognition is an important function of the brain that enables us to acquire and process information, to enhance our understanding of thoughts, experiences, and our senses. Any condition that affects our ability to think, reason, memorize, or be attentive affects our cognitive ability. Some cognitive decline is a normal part of aging, but there are many things you can…
One of the main causes of chest pain is a blockage of blood flow down the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that deliver oxygenated blood to our heart muscle to allow it to beat. Depending on how fast the blockage forms, it is labeled as either a stable or unstable blockage. Unstable blockages occur quickly when an atherosclerotic plaque…
One of the most frequent questions that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) ask is: what should I eat? It is clear that in addition to genetic factors, certain environmental factors, including diet, may trigger the excessive immune activity that leads to intestinal inflammation in IBD, which includes both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the limited number…
Among the many remarkable things that have happened since the COVID-19 pandemic began is that a lot of our usual medical care has simply stopped. According to a recent study, routine testing for cervical cancer, cholesterol, and blood sugar is down nearly 70% across the country. Elective surgeries, routine physical examinations, and other screening tests have been canceled or…
As Murphy’s Law would have it, children’s tantrums seem to happen at the most inconvenient times. Your toddler or independent-minded 3-year-old turns red, screams, stomps, and appears possessed when you’ve finally gotten everyone geared up for a family walk, or wrangled that video call you spent days coordinating with relatives to get everyone live at once — or even…
The goal of laser vision correction (LVC) is to eliminate or reduce the need for glasses and contact lenses. LVC treats three basic refractive errors: myopia (nearsightedness), astigmatism (blurring of vision due to non-spherical shape of the eye), and hyperopia (farsightedness). During an LVC procedure, the cornea — the clear dome on the surface of the eye — is…